Second Gen Nvidia Shield vs First Gen Nvidia Shield

Today the second generation Nvidia Shield officially hits stores but thanks to Nvidia we have had one for a while now.

The real question with the Nvidia Shield is should current owners upgrade? Our answer is yes and no

Make sure to watch our full side by side look at the Nvidia Shield 1st gen vs 2nd gen here:

Speed

I will keep this one simple. The new Nvidia Shield and the old Nvidia Shield have the same performance. Upgrading to the new Nvidia Shield will not give you a noticeable speed boost.

The New Game Controller & Remote

Nvidia has completely redone the game controller and remote. The new remote now comes bundled with the $199 edition of the Nvidia Shield. No longer will you have to pay $50 to add the remote to your Nvidia Shield. And, the new remote battery will last a year before you need to recharge it.

The big change is the new game controller, which is a step up in every way over the older version. The buttons have a smoother feel and are more responsive. The joysticks and dpad are new and just feel better. The controller is smaller and feels better in your hand over the older game controller.

However, we have yet to even get to the best parts. The new game controller boasts 60 hours of game play between recharging and an always-on voice control. (If you turn on the always-on voice control.) This means you can use Googles voice assistant to do everything from launching Netflix to turning on your lights or changing the temperature on your nest thermostat.

And, if you want to take advantage of these new features of the game controller, you can just buy the new controller and add it to your current Nvidia Shield.

Amazon Video

The main reason the first generation Nvidia Shield was not one of my most recommended streaming players was the lack of Amazon Video support. Amazon Video is the number 2 subscription service in the United States and rents more movies than Redbox, iTunes, Google Play, and Vudu.

Starting later this month Nvidia Shield will have its own Amazon Video app. The app looks similar to the new Roku Amazon Video app. This marks the first time an Android TV player will have an official Amazon Video app helping it stand out from other Android TV players.

My Final Thoughts

The new updates to the Nvidia Shield makes it a streaming player I recommend for cord cutters. The best part is if you already have a Nvidia Shield you can just buy the new game controller for all the features the second generation Nvidia Shield has to offer.

If you passed over the Nvidia Shield in the past it is time to give the Nvidia Shield a second look.

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